In the classic setting, the first day of school is accompanied by the peal of the school bells, calling delighted children back to their studies.
In the real world, the opening day of school sounds a lot like the dull groan of the diesel engine of a school bus.
No matter what it sounds like, schools are open, which means it’s time to be vigilant on the roads and be on the lookout for kids making their way to or from school.
We like to think of opening day as a fresh start; a new beginning.
As any baseball fan can tell you, there is a specific joy to Opening Day. Much like your average school year, the big league baseball season is a long slog. However, in the first few days of the season it is entirely possible for even the most pessimistic fan for the most hapless team to maintain a sense of optimism.
The grind comes on soon enough. For parents, the school year breaks down into events we must attend, meetings we should attend, and things our kids have to do.
We will have budget meetings and school board meetings, and in these pages and elsewhere there will be stories about how our local schools work to meet state and federal standards and work within budget restrictions, and about the hard choices that parents and taxpayers will have to make.
There will be time for those stories. Right now our Facebook pages, and probably yours too, are chock full of the firsts: the first day of kindergarten, of primary school, middle school, and high school. It’s a proud, happy moment, one worth savoring for a little while longer.
